Over the past 3 years, I have used running to transform many aspects of my life. I have lost over 50 lbs, brought my cholesterol levels down by over 100 pts, and have instilled a new sense of dedication and discipline, which has made me a mentally, physically and spiritually stronger person.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Wow!!! It has been a whirlwind for the last 72 hours!!! I apologize for not blogging earlier than this but I did not leave Ft. Lauderdale until yesterday morning, and I got to Tampa just in time to treat my patients at 1:00 pm yesterday... couldn't even go home and get my car. Kerry had to drop me off at work coming off the highway and pick me up at 8:00 pm last night. On top of that, we had like 24 patients lined up for us yesterday, so there was no time to breathe!!! So, I am actually blogging in between patients right now... ok, so let's get started.We got to Ft. Lauderdale Saturday morning at around 9:30 am, and dropped of my wife and kids at her parent's house. Chris and I went over to the expo and got our packets and got to browse around and see all the booths. That never gets old.... always see something or meet somebody that is so interesting. We met a lady named Marie that has run 125 marathons (she is 52!) She is currently training for a 125 mile race!!!! Unbelievable.Later on that night, we went to Delray Beach to go watch one of our former patients play a tennis match. My brother had tickets to the match, so we decided to take him up on the offer. We had fun, and after the match, I saw my former patient, who said that I'm going to need physical therapy for months after finishing the marathon tomorrow... thanks for the love!!!Once we got back to my parent's house, we watched the slam dunk contest and then went to bed.

Sunday morning was an early rise... slept a lot better than I did while at Disney... I guess I wasn't as nervous this time around. My dad, Chris, and I were on our way to the race, when my dad realized he forgot his garmin watch at home... so we had to turn back and go to the house, and get the watch.. it was so funny to see how frazzled he was when he saw that his watch not on his wrist. Anyways there was no time to overthink the race, because we got to the start about 5 minutes before the start of the race.The area was beautiful... it was a beautiful atmosphere... but it was a little bit on the warm side. Starting temps were in the mid 70's and the temps were in the mid 80's probably 3 hours into the race.So what happened??? Well good news and bad news..... Good news first.I finished the race (good news) but did not finish in the time I wanted to (bad news). Chris hit the wall fairly early in the race, started having problems at like mile 14 or so. I think we went out too fast…we hit the halfway mark at exactly 2 hours (and we planned to do a negative split, so we could come in just under 4 hours). That unfortunately was not even close to happening. He had to start walking and jogging, and was struggling a bit. But he continued to fight it out and went on. I stayed with him, and what I did was just run to each mile mark/water stop and wait for him (had fun with volunteers, danced with the bands!!!), or just run with him and do intervals…I have run with him many times before and we did a 22 miler in like 3:20, so I know he can do it, but it was really hot (starting temp at race: 74 deg/ by 9:00 am it was like 83 deg.!!) and I think a 9:00/mile pace was too ambitious with that weather…hence the wall smacking him in the face!!! Remember when I told you earlier about that lady that completed 125 marathons??? She even got ill during the race due to the oppressive heat... she said she has never been off of her pace group but she struggled at the end... she was bummed out. Obviously with what happened at Disney, staying with Chris throughout the race was not an issue or option. I felt extremely bad for him, but I knew that he needed my support to get him to the finish line. I think my crazy antics with taking crazy photos and pumping up the volunteers and fans, dancing with the reggae bands at mile 19, cheered him up, because he thought I was making a complete fool of myself!!!! When I got close to the finish line, I saw my wife and kids and family and I stopped to greet everyone and give hugs and kisses... they weren't at the finish line at Disney, so this was pretty cool. Also, my younger brother works for Red Bull and he had a team of girls at the finish line waiting for me. I took a a few pics of them.... but I still hadn't even finished!!!! So I took a few more steps and crossed the finish line (taking some cool photos before!!!!) So anyways we finished in 4:53… I ran a few miles after the race with my cousin on the beach, and I feel ok. I will do all easy runs for the next 3 weeks, and then get going again…. BTW, after finishing, my wife saw that I could actually do this without it beating me up much, so she has decided to let me run another marathon this year... she said it was like night and day from the last one. I think I'm going to do the Marine Corps Marathon next (October 26)…looks like a lot of fun. It is nearly twice the size of Disney and you run by all the monuments in Washington, D.C.Well, this is what I got from this race:1.I love to run and I love events... even though Sunday seemed to be my day from a running time standpoint, I think I enjoyed myself as much or even more with all the fun that I had on the course. It is just awesome to be part of the hoopla!!! It's nice to run a good race like last week at Gasparilla, but it's also nice to take everything in like I did in this race. 2. Just because you can run a certain pace at certain temps, doesn't mean you can run that at any temperature. Chris and I are used to training in the am, when the temps are usually in the mid 50's, low 60's. 20-30 degree difference is huge!!! You need to change the gameplan...Chris just read off his HR to me (he was in the 190's from mile 7... ouch!!!)3. What a feeling when you cross the finish line!!! This felt as good or better than Disney. I just completed over 26 miles!!!!!

P.S. I will post pics on the blog later today or tomorrow.... I will have other races in between my next marathon.... I will keep you updated tomorrow on what my plans are for the rest of the running season.

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I graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Physical Therapy in 2000, and received my strength and conditioning certification through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. I have over 8 years of experience in outpatient physical therapy. I am a board certified Orthopedic certified specialist through the American Physical Therapy Association. I have served as the official physical therapist for Saddlebrook Tennis and Golf Resorts for the past 6 years. On a personal note,I enjoy spending time with my beautiful and amazing wife Kerry and my adorable little nit wits Adryana, Arjay and Alayna.